G.D. Naidu
G D Naidu ( Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu ) was an Indian Inventor and Engineer who is also referred to as the Edison of India. He is credited with the manufacture of the first electric motor in India. His contributions were primarily Industrial but also span the fields of electrical, mechanical, agricultural and automobile Engineering.
He had only primary Education but excelled as a versatile genius. Among his hobbies was Train Travel to near by cities.
Naidu was born on March 23, 1893, in Kalangal, near Coimbatore. He began his Transport business in 1920, with the purchase of an automobile coach. He drove it between Pollachi and Palani.
In a few years, his United Motor Service ( UMS ) owned the most efficient fleet of public transport vehicles in the country. In 1937, the first motor to be produced in India, was brought out from G D Naidu’s UMS factory.
G.D. Naidu invented an electric razor that gave users more shaves than the other existing options in the international market.
Among his other inventions were super – thin shaving blades, a Distance adjuster for film cameras, a fruit juice extractor, a tamper – proof vote – recording machine and a kerosene – run fan.
In 1941, he announced that he had the ability to manufacture five – valve Radio sets in India at a mere Rs. 70/- a set. In 1952, the two – seater petrol engine car rolled out.
But production was stopped subsequently, because of the Government’s refusal to grant the necessary license.
His inventiveness was not confined to machinery alone. He is said to have grown ten feet high Cotton plants, millet plants with high yields and several injections for plants that made possible what Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman called “Botanic marvels”.
In 1935, he personally filmed the funeral of King George V at London. In 1936, he met Adolf Hitler in Germany. Among the Indian stalwarts that G. D. Naidu’s camera captured were Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru and Subash Chandra Bose.
G. D. Naidu remained an outsider to Politics, despite having contested and lost in the 1936 Provincial General Elections. He was gifted Rolls Royce car and he was the only one who had at those times.
In 1944, Naidu retired from active involvement with his automobile combine and announced several philanthropic measures including grants for research scholarships and welfare schemes for his employees and the depressed sections of society.
Through Naidu’s efforts and donations the Arthur Hope Polytechnic and the Arthur Hope College of Engineering were set up. In 1967, the GD Naidu Industrial Exhibition was established.
He died on the 4th of January, 1974.